Reliance Church, St. Petersburg, FL
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Love is….

2/14/2014

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4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.(ICor 13:4-7)

As we study God's love this month at church, I am reminded of this scripture as well. It is often read at weddings.  I personally have read it many times and I think of Jesus Christ when I read it. I think wow, if I could only love like that. If only my heart was so pure . If only others loved even half as much,  what a better world we would live in, but sin is here to stay and well that is just how it is. Sin will always fill the world with anguish and pain and what can we do but overcome it through the love of Jesus Christ. So much easier said than done, that word over come… How do we over come? Do we overcome by accepting Jesus and being saved and poof, we have overcome? is it by being strong,enduring, being steadfast? Well there are many ways we over come and I would say forgiving is a huge way to over come  anything. We must first forgive ourselves for not being the perfect person, and not being able to love like the above scripture. We must first forgive ourself-" the sinner".  Forgiving self, is deep and long and we won't get into that, but consider it, meditate on it and pray about it, and see what God will do for you.   Next we must forgive others. I once heard a preacher say, pretend all your hurt, and the people that hurt you are in a cage, next pretend that all the people you hurt are also in that cage, meditate on it and think, put faces to names and intent. Next, meditate on opening the door to that cage and freeing it or letting it go, out the cage door into the open, into the sky and out of sight. Do that daily if you have to, but don't hold on to it.  
One step to loving, is forgiving, and by forgiving, we become free, we become a little closer to wholeness and pureness and at the end of the day, you will see light at the end of the tunnel. We must try and at least by trying, striving and doing your best to love your self and love others you will be lighter, and stronger, and you will overcome!! 
Love is……… forgiving
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If You love me you will obey me….

2/4/2014

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If You love me you will obey me….
Have you ever said that to your children? Or have your parents ever said that to you? Well, isn't it funny how submission and love go hand in hand. 

3" And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did." 1 John 2:3-6(NLT)

As humans, it is so hard for us to submit to another. We know the way, the right way, our way and that is final. I am the Captain of my ship. Why is it so hard to follow another and submit? It probably all goes back to the garden of Eden when the snake convinced Eve to eat the apple to gain knowledge but truly our human nature doesn't want to submit. When I was teaching the children this Sunday, one of them said but only Jesus was perfect and lived a sin free life, we are gonna sin. I said yes, we are gonna sin, but we are to strive to be like him. We are to obey him. It's all a matter of our heart. 
   The scripture above says though that if we love God, we will submit to him and follow him and keep his commandments and not just his ten commandments but also the love commandment, to love God with all your heart and to love others. 
7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. 1 John 2:7







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